- Jan 4 Cornelis Ploos van Amstel, Dutch engraver and art collector (d. 1798)
- Jan 17 Hugh Mercer, Scottish military officer (fought in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War), born in Rosehearty, Scotland (d. 1777)
- Jan 18 Henry, Prince of Prussia and diplomat (led armies during Silesian Wars and the Seven Years' War), born in Berlin, Prussia (d. 1802)
- Feb 15 Abraham Clark, American politician, signed US Declaration of Independence, born in Elizabethtown, New Jersey (d. 1794)
- Mar 8 Richard Howe, British admiral, born in London (d. 1799)
- Mar 14 Joseph Anton Steffan [Josef Antonín Štěpán], Bohemian harpsichordist and composer, born in Kopidlno, Kingdom of Bohemia (d. 1797)
- Apr 8 Lewis Morris, American landowner and farmer (signed US Declaration of Independence), born in Morrisania, New York (d. 1798)
- Apr 12 Charles Burney, English music historian, born in Shrewsbury, England (d. 1814)
- Apr 20 Jozef de Ferraris, French-Austrian general and cartographer, born in Lunéville, France (d. 1814)
- Apr 26 Pasquale Paoli, Corsican freedom fighter, born in Stretta di Morosaglia, France (d. 1807)
- May 20 Francis Cotes, English painter (d. 1770)
- May 25 Giuseppe Paolucci, Italian composer, born in Siena, Grand Duchy of Tuscany (d. 1776)
James Hutton (1726-1797)
Jun 3 Scottish geologist and father of modern geology, born in Edinburgh, Scotland
- Jun 25 Thomas Pennant, Welsh naturalist, born in Downing, Wales (d. 1798)
- Jul 20 William Jones, British composer and clergyman, born in Lowick, England (d. 1800)
- Aug 7 James Bowdoin, American Revolutionary leader and politician, born in Boston, Massachusetts (d. 1790)
- Aug 9 Francesco Cetti, Italian Jesuit priest and scientist, born in Mannheim, Electorate of the Palatinate, Holy Roman Empire (d. 1778)
- Aug 26 Karl Kohaut, Austrian composer and lutenist, born in Vienna (d. 1784)
- Sep 7 François-André Danican Philidor, French composer and chess champion, born in Dreux, France (d. 1795)
- Oct 14 Charles Middleton, 1st Baron Barham, English sailor and politician, born in Leith, Midlothian, Scotland (d. 1813)
- Oct 16 Daniel Chodowiecki, Polish painter (d. 1801)
- Nov 20 Oliver Wolcott, American judge, signed US Declaration of Independence, born in Windsor, Connecticut (d. 1797) [NS=Dec 1]
- Nov 30 Jacques Aliamet, French etcher and engraver, born in Abbeville, France (d. 1788)
- Dec 1 Eggert Ólafsson, Icelandic explorer, writer (Reise igiennem Island - Travels In Iceland), and language conservationist, born in Svefneyjar, Iceland (d. 1768)
- Dec 4 William Alexander, Lord Stirling, American general (American Revolutionary War leader), born in New York City (d. 1783)
- Dec 24 Johann Ernst Hartmann, Danish organist and composer, born in Glogów, Poland (d. 1793)